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Pacers help returning soldier surprise family

I don't know if any of this made the tv broadcast last night, but this was damn awesome to watch happen live (and not just because I've spent a season in G2), and the Pacers deserve kudos for helping make the surprise happen:

Game Contestants Get Surprise Reunion With Veteran Brother
Jeff Tzucker

March 2, 2014

During a timeout of the Pacers-Jazz game on March 2, 2014, G2 Zone member Aaron Rector and his brother, Brandon, took part in the Simon Mall Shootout. The game involves hitting shots to make money, including a free throw for $50, a 3-pointer for $250, and a half-court shot for $1000. Aaron and Brandon hit the free throw and the 3-pointer, but narrowly missed the half-court shot.

Photo Gallery: Brothers Surprise Reunion on Court »

When the game was over and the money was to be presented to them, their brother, Justin, a military veteran who had just arrived home from being stationed in Afghanistan, surprised them on the court with the money.

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Overwhelmed by the moment, Justin couldn't lift his head when he first walked on the court. On the other side, Aaron and Brandon fell to the court when they first saw Justin before picking themselves up and sprinted over to him to give him a welcome home hug.

After reuniting on the court, the three brothers (and the rest of their family, including Aaron's full-term pregnant wife) went to the Locker Room Restaurant to have dinner courtesy of Levy Restaurants. When they were done with dinner, the family watched the rest of the game from courtside seats. To cap it off, Aaron and Justin were the first call-in guests on the Pacers OT radio show, hosted by Eddie White.

How was it that this could all come together so well? While the secret plan to have the brothers reunite at the game was already in the works, it actually turned out that Aaron's G2 Zone peers voted him to take part in the Simon Mall Shootout. The natural occurrence of Aaron being elected helped conceal the secret and then everything started to snowball. The Pacers front office folks then were able to work their magic behind the scenes to pull off the surprise.

"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "
Want your own "Just Say No to Kamen" from @mkroeger pic? http://twitpic.com/a3hmca

Re: Pacers help returning soldier surprise family

There is a tiny part of me that wonders why the Pacers had to make a show of it. I love the way the pacers paid for dinner, gave them courtside seats, but the reuniting on the court?

I know the pacers meant well and to the extent that the pacers financed any part of this they should be commended.

But if that is me and my two older brothers I would not want to be reunited in that fashion - on the court in front of 18,000 people.

But that is just me

I listened to the brothers on my drive back to Bloomington last night (they were on the post game with Eddie White). I'm pretty sure it was the brother's (in Afghanistan) idea to surprise him on the court. He said he e-mailed the Pacers about 6 months ago with the idea, and then they basically put it all together for him. He was really excited about it.